The present invention relates to the field of household electric appliances in general and it is applied more particularly (but not exclusively) to pressing irons.
It concerns more precisely a thermostat control device, particularly a pressing iron thermostat, and permits, for a given path of the control means, to obtain a more precise temperature regulation and above all in the zone of the most desired temperatures.
The device according to the invention is more particularly intended to assure a precise temperature regulation function. As such, the thermostat control device according to the invention concerns more specifically, but not exclusively, pressing appliances, such as pressing irons for example.
Temperature control of pressing irons is performed by a bimetal thermostat whose operation is effected directly by a rotary button or indirectly by a device of the rack and pinion type and a linear slider. In the two cases, the temperature selection range comprises one part for heating and another intended for adjustment for the different types of fabrics utilized.
The rack and pinion system permits one to have a reduction between the slider and the thermostat to increase the precision of the adjustment. A pressing iron must have a temperature selection range going from the maximum (220.degree.) to the shutting off of power at ambient temperature. In the context of a pressing iron using a device of the rack and pinion type to assure control of the thermostat, the path corresponding to the temperature selection phase constitutes only around one-half of the control range of said thermostat. The rest of the path of the control means corresponds to the heating phase, that is from the switching off of current to the first operating temperature of the iron.
The drawback of such a device is that around one-half of the path of the control means is not usable for selecting temperatures to be used during ironing. There thus remains less space usable to effectuate a precise adjustment in the range of operating temperatures of the iron.